Sunday, 15 July 2018

2 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN GRENFELL £120K FRAUD

Two 'parasitic' fraudsters who pretended to be Grenfell Tower survivors have been jailed for a total of more than six years.

Elaine Douglas, 51, and Tommy Brooks, 52, who have been living in the UK illegally since 2002, spent more than £120,000 of taxpayers' money after being granted pre-paid credit cards and stays at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel.

The Jamaican nationals had told the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea they lived in a flat on the 19th floor.

The couple's activities were discovered a year after the tragedy when investigators realised the flat number they gave was actually on the floor below.

Douglas was jailed for three years and three months while Brooks was jailed for three years at Isleworth Crown Court today.

Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Wood said: 'I regard this as a parasitic fraud in the wake of a human tragedy.'

He said both defendants had 'high culpability' in a 'planned and sophisticated' fraud.

The judge then read out a victim impact statement from genuine Grenfell resident Manuel Alves who said: 'Words cannot explain how disgusted I am that these individuals have had the audacity to commit such a stunt.

'They have violated the real victims and have abused the system that has been put in place to help us.

Prosecutor Benjamin Holt also read from two heartbreaking victims' statements.